Deputy Director of the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce, Press Spokesperson Gao Feng] Good morning, journalist friends. Everyone is welcome to participate in the online special press conference of the Ministry of Commerce.
The 127th Canton Fair will be held online from June 15-24. Holding the 127th Canton Fair online is an important measure to implement the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council and coordinate the promotion of epidemic prevention and control and business development. In order to help everyone better understand the relevant situation, today we invited Mr. Li Jinqi, Deputy Director and Secretary General of the Canton Fair and Director of the China Foreign Trade Center, Mr. Zheng Jianrong, Director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Commerce, and Mr. Zhang Li, Deputy Director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, for everyone. Introduce the relevant situation of this Canton Fair. I am the host of the press conference today, Deputy Director of the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce, and spokesman for Gao Feng.
Today, Director Li Jinqi will first introduce to you the preparations for the Canton Fair. Afterwards, the three publishers will answer the questions raised by the reporters’ friends. Below, first of all, Mr. Li Jinqi is invited to make an introduction.
[Li Jinqi, deputy director and secretary general of the Canton Fair and director of the China Foreign Trade Center] Dear journalist friends, ladies and gentlemen:
Hello everyone! Thank you for your long-term support and attention to the work of the Canton Fair.
Since the beginning of this year, affected by the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, my country's foreign trade development has faced unprecedented challenges. In order to stabilize the fundamentals of foreign trade and foreign investment, expand opening up, and help Chinese and foreign companies to develop markets, the Chinese government decided that the 127th Canton Fair will be held online, using advanced information technology, so that Chinese and foreign merchants can place orders and do business without leaving the house.
Next, I will introduce to you the general preparations for the 127th Canton Fair.
1. The scale of the exhibition remains stable, creating an online platform with high-quality features
In this Canton Fair, 50 exhibition areas will be set up according to 16 categories of commodities. All exhibits will be displayed online during the same period from June 15 to 24, with an exhibition period of 10 days. Up to now, exhibitors have uploaded exhibits through pictures, videos, 3D and other formats to display the brand image in multiple forms and dimensions.
On the basis of "Smart Canton Fair", we have completely upgraded the official website of the Canton Fair, integrated online display, promotion, supply and purchase docking, online negotiation, etc., to form a one-stop all-weather online hosting new model. The official website of the Canton Fair has five major sections: exhibitors' exhibits, news and events, global supply and procurement, conference services, and cross-border e-commerce zone. The Exhibitor Exhibits section is a platform for enterprises to upload exhibits. Enterprises can upload products through pictures, videos and other formats, or they can choose their own display templates, upload VR virtual booths, and build exclusive exhibition centers. Buyers can inquire about products or enterprises and visit the virtual booths of enterprises. The news and events section scrolls news and exhibition information to enhance real-time and interactive experience. And provide live marketing services, set up a 10×24 online live broadcast room for each company. The supply and purchase docking section provides honest background information for both parties to the transaction, supports exhibitors and buyers to publish supply and demand information, and strengthen online matching. And provide links to some video conferences and social software to facilitate the use of both parties. The conference service section provides exhibitors with various supporting services such as trade promotion, customs and finance. The cross-border e-commerce zone has established links with 105 cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test areas and 6 cross-border e-commerce platforms to simultaneously carry out marketing activities and expand the benefits to enterprises.
In recent years, due to various factors such as weak external demand, foreign trade companies have faced increased difficulties. The Canton Fair has reduced the cost of exhibiting companies for several sessions, and has waived the booth fees for companies in poor areas. It has fully supported companies in exploring the international market. During the online session of this Canton Fair, the participation fee will be waived to help companies alleviate their burden.
2. Extensive global promotion with the help of "Internet + Cloud Platform"
This Canton Fair adheres to the "innovative, professional, accurate and precise" investment attraction concept, and strives to do a good job in inviting buyers. One is immediate response and global publicity. Start the global promotion and invitation work at the first time, accurately push the latest information to fans through social media, send email notifications to old buyers, and carry out promotion invitations in all aspects and at multiple levels. The second is to highlight professionalism and achieve precision. Focusing on the “Belt and Road” international cooperation, according to the regional and national policies, we will invite 130 global partners, multinational procurement companies and important customers in 73 countries and regions; 23 “cloud promotion” series will be held in key global markets The event, held a "cloud contract" event with four overseas industrial and commercial organizations; vigorously launched new media marketing driven by big data, mainly social media and search engines. The third is to strengthen cooperation and borrow invitations. Through market-oriented means, encourage global partners, international business organizations, multinational procurement enterprises and important old buyers to use their channel network to invite buyers to register for the exhibition. The fourth is fine service to enhance the experience. Provide buyers with "online punching, offline rewards" benefits, strengthen online and offline integration and interaction, and enhance the experience of buyers.
3. Build a shield for intellectual property protection and inject vitality into trade development
In response to the special requirements held online, the Canton Fair set up a combined "online + offline" mode to handle complaints. One is to improve the prevention mechanism. Before the exhibition, strengthen the awareness of intellectual property protection, strengthen prevention and control by issuing exhibition guidelines, trading group self-examination and self-correction, and curb infringement at the source and prevent trade disputes. The second is to establish an online complaint handling platform. Registered users of the Canton Fair's official website platform can submit intellectual property complaints, appeals and withdrawal applications online through the PC computer terminal, which is convenient for rights holders to protect their rights. The third is to enhance professional service capabilities. Continue to invite experts from government departments such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights to enter the complaint reception station of the conference offline, provide support in the background, and make professional judgments on intellectual property complaints. Professional arbitration institutions are invited to provide online remote mediation services for both parties to trade disputes.
4. Improve supporting services and enrich the connotation of multi-functional platform
In view of the characteristics of this Canton Fair held online, relevant supporting services will be improved. One is to continue to carry out trade promotion activities. In 2020 Canton Fair Export Product Design Award (CF Award), 10683 companies registered to participate in the evaluation. The Canton Fair's Product Design and Trade Promotion Center (PDC) has introduced about 50 design institutions from nearly 10 countries and regions to participate in the design display, helping exhibitors improve quality, create brands, and expand markets. The second is the newly established government service area. Work closely with the customs department, set up a link entrance on the official website of the Canton Fair, introduce new measures such as policy guidance and online consultation, and provide professional support for buyers and exhibitors. The third is to tailor financial services. A new financial services section has been added to the Canton Fair's official website. Eight financial institutions, such as the Bank of China, will provide exclusive financial products as well as supporting services such as cross-border settlement, export insurance, and customs clearance for exhibitors at the Canton Fair.
V. Carefully prepare important events and promote trade to promote high-quality development
This session of the Canton Fair will host several important events. An online launch ceremony was held on June 15. A series of new product launches will be held, and more than 60 industry leading companies are expected to showcase innovative products. In addition, other activities such as large-scale e-commerce procurement briefings and customs latest policy briefings will be held.
Dear friends, under the leadership of the Ministry of Commerce and the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, and with the joint efforts of all parties involved, we will strive to hold a special period, special significance, special measures, and special exciting events with a strong sense of responsibility and mission The Canton Fair Online has made due contributions to stabilizing the basic foreign trade and foreign capital and achieving the goals of economic and social development throughout the year.
thank you all!
[Gao Feng] Thank you Director Li Jinqi for your introduction. Let's enter the question-and-answer session below. Please ask reporters and friends to ask questions around today's conference. Please ask questions below.
[Financial Times reporter] Why did the 127th Canton Fair be held online? What is the significance? What are the highlights?
[Li Jinqi] In the 63 years since the founding of the Canton Fair, it has gone through ups and downs and has never stopped, effectively promoting the development of Sino-foreign economic and trade exchanges and cooperation and an open world economy. Affected by the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, whether and how to hold the 127th Canton Fair has always attracted people's hearts and attracted much attention. The final decision to host on the Internet is mainly based on the following three considerations.
First, holding on-line at the Canton Fair is a pragmatic measure to deal with the impact of the epidemic. After the outbreak, the exhibition industry with a high concentration of people and logistics bears the brunt. Since this year, most exhibitions around the world have been cancelled or postponed. Global travel warnings, traffic restrictions and entry and exit restrictions have greatly increased the difficulty of holding Canton Fair physical exhibitions. Hosting online will not only help to prevent and control the epidemic, but also ensure the normal progress of trade activities, which can maximize the impact of the epidemic, ensure the continuity of the exhibition, effectively gather popularity, promote the exchange and cooperation between exhibitors and buyers, and ease the actual difficulties of the enterprise. .
Second, holding the Canton Fair online is an important measure to go all out to stabilize foreign trade. The Canton Fair is an important trade promotion platform for my country. In recent years, there are about 25,000 exhibitors in each Canton Fair and about 200,000 overseas buyers. It is the most important channel for enterprises to meet customers and expand the international market. The customers met at the Canton Fair also led to a large number of transactions after the meeting. The percentage of the turnover of the exhibitors after the meeting accounted for about 80% of their total turnover with the Canton Fair customers. Since the beginning of this year, due to the impact of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, combined with the continued weak demand in the international market, the sharp depreciation of currencies in emerging markets, and the increasing downward pressure on the domestic economy, my country’s foreign trade has encountered unprecedented challenges, and the difficulty of fulfilling orders for enterprises has emerged. Innovative ways to hold the Canton Fair online are important measures to do a good job of the "six stability" and implement the "six guarantees" task. It is helpful to help companies grab orders and secure markets, and enhance the confidence of foreign trade companies; it is helpful to open up production and marketing docking points and stabilize the international market share; it is conducive to showing my country's response to the epidemic and actively supporting the role of major countries in the multilateral trading system.
Third, the online holding of the Canton Fair is an important measure to promote innovation and development. Face-to-face negotiation and proof-of-sale transactions are the historical tradition of the Canton Fair, with good merchant experience and good transaction results. In recent years, the Canton Fair has followed the trend of rapid development of information technology, continuously accelerated the digital transformation, and steadily promoted the construction of the Smart Canton Fair, and achieved staged results. The new crown epidemic has pressed the "fast forward button" for this process. Bringing the Canton Fair that has been held for 63 consecutive years to the cloud as a whole is a new attempt to embrace digitalization at a deeper level in the Canton Fair. It has become a landmark event of "Internet + Exhibition" and will definitely further promote the in-depth integration of online and offline development of the Fair. New competitive advantages in the "Internet+" era.
The migration of the 127th Canton Fair from the physical exhibition to the Internet is not a simple copy of the traditional model, but a new structural design and process reengineering, which will present six prominent highlights.
One is the new platform. The official website of the Canton Fair is based on the Canton Fair. We have completely upgraded and upgraded the official website of the Canton Fair to transform from flat browsing to a new interactive communication. The original content has also been deepened, expanded or adjusted accordingly, forming a new platform for online exhibitions. The new official website has exhibited exhibits, news and events, global supply and procurement docking, conference services, cross-border e-commerce area five major content, from "face-to-face communication" to "screen-to-screen communication", to provide exhibitors with a brand new experience .
The second is new technology. This Canton Fair made full use of information technologies such as the Internet, big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and provided more possibilities for enhancing the effect of the exhibition. In line with the development trend of “live broadcast with goods”, a dedicated 10×24-hour live broadcast room for exhibitors with full time and space, strong interaction, and orientation can be established to create real-life marketing interactive effects through live broadcast activities. Buyers can easily access related exhibits while watching the live broadcast, and there are a variety of communication tools to help buyers and sellers communicate in real time and interact to improve the effectiveness of online negotiations.
The third is new content. In response to the new characteristics of online hosting, an online launching ceremony was held to convey the signal to the world to overcome difficulties, promote international trade and share mutually beneficial development. Organize activities such as online signing and new product launches to showcase innovative products of leading companies. With the restriction on the number of exhibits uploaded, companies can display their brand image in multiple dimensions through formats such as pictures, videos, and 3D. Numerous global premiere and Canton Fair premiere products were exhibited in a concentrated manner, and the products of "Three Selfs and One High" continued to increase.
The fourth is new marketing. This year's Canton Fair innovative marketing methods, with the help of Google and Facebook as the core "five search engines + eight social media" and other new media to carry out global marketing promotion, strengthen the brand image, optimize the marketing mix, and accurately reach the professional crowd. Carry out a series of "cloud promotion" activities around the world to attract more diverse and professional buyers to register for the exhibition.
Fifth, new services. This Canton Fair will further enrich the service content and improve the service quality. In addition to the original trade promotion services such as the Canton Fair Export Product Design Award (CF Award) and the Canton Fair Design and Trade Promotion Center (PDC), a special financial service area was added to provide exhibitors with customized products and exclusive service programs; Initiate close cooperation and launch new measures such as policy guidance and online consultation to provide professional support for buyers and exhibitors.
Sixth, new opportunities. On the one hand, the Canton Fair is held online, and domestic and overseas exhibitors are invited to negotiate and cooperate online, which provides an opportunity for global companies to overcome the impact of the epidemic and share the economic development opportunities of China and the world, injecting energy into the Canton Fair for the stable development of the world economy. On the other hand, during this Canton Fair, an event with the theme of "Synchronous Canton Fair, Global Business Opportunities" will be held to organize companies with strong qualifications, good reputation, and guaranteed product quality to voluntarily participate in synchronous activities to expand the benefit of enterprises. Thank you!
[Reporter from China News Service] What practical measures have been taken in this session of the Canton Fair in terms of targeted poverty alleviation?
[Deputy Director Zhang Li, Ministry of Commerce's Foreign Trade Department] The Ministry of Commerce has resolutely implemented the strategic deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, fighting well against poverty. Since 2017, it has fully supported enterprises from poor areas to participate in the Canton Fair and expand the international market. Since the 5th session, it has provided nearly 5,000 booths for enterprises in more than 3,000 poor areas, set up special product exhibition areas in poor areas, and held special promotion activities, which effectively promoted the development of foreign trade in poor areas.
2020 is the year to fight off poverty, and at the 127th Canton Fair, we will further increase our efforts to help enterprises in poor areas to "go online" to develop markets and overcome difficulties. First, the platform is "full open". The 127th Canton Fair fully opened applications to enterprises in poor areas, with no quantity restrictions or threshold conditions, and encouraged active declaration to expand the scope of beneficiary enterprises. The second is "zero burden" for exhibitors. We will continue to waive the participation fees for enterprises in poor areas. Companies uploading exhibit information, conducting online negotiations, conducting live marketing, and using various online services will not be required to pay fees, and will achieve zero-cost participation without leaving the house. The third is accurate "drainage flow." According to the category of exhibits, the enterprises in poor areas will be included in the exhibition areas of various industries. At the same time, develop exclusive labels for enterprises in poor areas, and optimize query functions, so that buyers can quickly and accurately find exhibitors in poor areas. Fourth, the service is "upgraded". A series of carefully designed training courses, together with various local trading delegations, will increase training for enterprises in poor areas to help enterprises better adapt to the new model of online exhibitions and cultivate new skills in online marketing.
We will continue to help enterprises in poor areas to use the Canton Fair platform to go global, enhance the "blood-making" function, stimulate endogenous power, and help the poverty alleviation battle to a successful conclusion. Thank you!
